Vanderbilt University

Overview

Vanderbilt University sits in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1873 with a $1 million gift from Cornelius Vanderbilt. In fall 2025 the university enrolled 7,366 undergraduates and 6,304 graduate and professional students, with an 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio and an average class size of 13. First-year retention is 96%, and the six-year graduation rate is 93%. The 340-acre campus lies about 1.5 miles from downtown Nashville. In fall 2025, 649 of the undergraduates came from California.

Two kinds of families tend to fit. In the first, the student is academically strong and wants small classes and research access inside a mid-sized research university: Vanderbilt reports that 62% of undergraduates take part in research, 47% study abroad, and 44% double major. In the second, the family is middle-income and aid matters, because Vanderbilt promises full tuition to households earning $200,000 or less and packages contain no loans. For Irvine families, the first questions are how binding Early Decision fits with the University of California application, and which testing policy applies to the student’s year of entry; the last section of this page lays that out by grade.

Admissions data

5.4%Class of 2029 admit rate

1. Applied48,196
2. Admitted2,593
3. Enrolled1,635

• US, outside Tennessee73%
• Tennessee14%
• International13%

Calculated from Common Data Set enrollment counts: 1,189 out of state, 234 in state, 212 international.

• South29%
• Middle States18%
• West14%
• Midwest11%
• International11%
• Southwest8%
• New England6%
• US territories and unknown2%

Calculated from the Registrar's fall 2025 enrollment report and rounded. West includes 649 students from California.

Among Class of 2029 enrolling students, 24% submitted the SAT and 28% submitted the ACT. Their middle 50% ranges were 1510 to 1560 on the SAT and 34 to 35 on the ACT. Of the 19.8% of first-year students who submitted a class rank, 91.4% were in the top tenth of their class. The same cycle drew 6,202 Early Decision applications, of which 874 were admitted.

The Class of 2030, entering in fall 2026, drew more than 54,000 applicants, the largest pool in Vanderbilt’s history. Early Decision brought 7,727 applications with an 11.9% admit rate; Regular Decision brought 48,720 applications and 1,382 admits, a 2.8% admit rate. Final enrollment for this class has not yet been published.

How to apply

Vanderbilt accepts the Common Application, the Coalition Application powered by Scoir, and QuestBridge, and states that it does not prefer one over the others. The application fee is $50, with waivers for qualified students, and it is waived automatically for QuestBridge applicants. Materials include a personal essay and a short answer, a counselor recommendation, two academic teacher recommendations, and an official high school transcript. Applicants to the Blair School of Music also submit a separate Blair application with a prescreening video, an artistic recommendation, a music resume, and a repertoire list. Applicants may change their decision plan in MyAppVU up to two weeks after the plan’s deadline; moving to Early Decision requires the signed agreement.

Testing is currently optional. Applicants for fall 2027 and fall 2028 entry choose whether to be reviewed with or without scores, and Vanderbilt says that choice neither advantages nor disadvantages an application; SAT or ACT scores are required again for fall 2029 entry. Vanderbilt superscores both tests and, if a student sends both, uses whichever superscore is stronger. The ACT Science and Writing sections are not required. Scores may be self-reported on the application, and enrolling students must send official reports. International students must show English proficiency; the requirement is waived for scores above 26 on ACT English or above 630 on SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions does not offer interviews. US citizens attending US high schools may submit an optional 60 to 90 second Glimpse video, and applicants abroad may schedule an InitialView video interview. In its Common Data Set, Vanderbilt lists the level of an applicant’s interest (demonstrated interest, such as visits and contact with the office) as not considered, while rigor of the high school record and class rank are rated very important. Admission is need-blind for US citizens and eligible non-citizens, meaning an aid request does not affect the decision; it is need-aware for international students, whose aid request may be a factor.

Cost and financial aid

2026-27$96,896billed total

• Tuition$69,822
• Student support fee$3,384
• Housing$15,170
• Food$8,520

How Opportunity Vanderbilt works, by income

1. Under $50,000Tuition $0Median award for fall 2025 first-year students was $99,976, covering tuition and supporting housing and food
2. $50,000 to $200,000Tuition $0Full-tuition scholarship with typical assets; fall 2025 median awards ranged from $69,654 to $97,667
3. Above $200,000Assessed on need; in fall 2025, 35% of applicants in this band received aid, with a median award of $45,646

Vanderbilt’s need-based program, Opportunity Vanderbilt, makes three commitments to US citizens and eligible non-citizens: ability to pay is not part of the admission decision, 100% of demonstrated need is met, and aid awards contain no loans. In 2025-26, 64% of undergraduates received some form of financial assistance, and the average package for students with demonstrated need was $79,177. Need-based aid requires the CSS Profile, the FAFSA, and family tax documents. ED and RD applicants receive the same need-based aid; ED students get a preliminary offer first, and final packages are released in late March.

Merit scholarships have a separate application due December 1. Vanderbilt awards about 300 merit scholarships each year, ranging from partial to full tuition, including three signature full-tuition awards: the Ingram Scholars Program, the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship, and the Chancellor’s Scholarship. The Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship requires its own application. National Merit Finalists (the National Merit Scholarship Program selects students by their grade 11 PSAT scores) who name Vanderbilt as their first choice and enroll receive National Merit scholarship support, and 115 National Merit Scholars entered in fall 2025. Need-based aid for international students is limited: for fall 2025, Vanderbilt offered need-based aid or merit scholarships to 91 international students from 50 countries, with awards of $24,587 to $97,566 per year.

Schools and fields of study

Vanderbilt has five undergraduate schools: the College of Arts and Science, the School of Engineering, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, the Blair School of Music, and the new College of Connected Computing, which begins admitting students in fall 2027 and focuses on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics, and data science. In fall 2025, Arts and Science enrolled 4,093 undergraduates, Engineering 1,497, Peabody 1,434, and Blair 253. Applicants indicate an intended school on the application, and the law, medical, and business schools admit graduate students only. The university’s major finder lists 70 bachelor’s majors, alongside more than 70 minors.

Arts and Science students who entered in fall 2025 or later follow the A&S College Core, an 11-course general education program: two First-Year Core seminars (CORE 1010, Being Human, and CORE 1020, Science, Technology, and Values), two Exploratory Core electives, five Capacity Courses spread across the humanities and fine arts, the social and behavioral sciences, and mathematics and natural sciences, plus one world language course and one Inquiry Lab in research methods. First-year Arts and Science students complete both Core seminars even if they plan to transfer to Peabody, Blair, or Engineering, which shows that moving between undergraduate schools after entry is possible.

Every undergraduate completes Immersion Vanderbilt, a graduation requirement in which the student chooses a pathway such as research, study abroad, an internship, or a community project and finishes a culminating project under a faculty adviser. Because the College of Connected Computing begins admitting students in fall 2027, applicants interested in computer science, data science, or artificial intelligence should check the school and major list the admissions office publishes for their application year.

Campus life

All first-year students live on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons and are assigned to one of 10 houses, each led by a faculty head of house who lives among the students. Houses and rooms are assigned randomly, and a room change request period opens about two weeks after classes begin. From sophomore year, students can apply to one of six upper-division residential colleges, join a living-learning community organized around an academic interest, or choose one of 12 traditional residence halls; each residential college is led by a faculty head of college, and rooms range from singles and doubles to four- to six-person suites. The university’s housing page reports that 94% of students live on campus for all four years. Students can choose from more than 450 organizations, and Vanderbilt fields 17 NCAA Division I varsity teams in the Southeastern Conference.

A timeline for Irvine families

The five Irvine Unified high schools differ in when AP courses open, how weighting works, and how the math sequence accelerates, and those four years of scheduling shape the depth of an application. School-by-school rules are in the IUSD high school guides.

1. Grade 9Set the path, protect grades
   • Settle the math and science sequence
   • Protect core grades
   • Choose one or two activities that can run four years
2. Grade 10First AP courses
   • Take the first AP courses the school allows
   • Fall 2029 entrants must submit scores, so plan test dates early
   • Turn activities into visible output
3. Grade 11Finish testing
   • Take the PSAT in October with National Merit in view
   • SAT or ACT: first sitting in spring, second before summer ends
   • Choose the two recommending teachers
4. Fall of grade 12Choose ED I, ED II, or RD
   • ED I: application and aid materials by November 1
   • File the UC application by November 30 as usual
   • Merit scholarship application by December 1; ED II and RD by January 1

Dates and registration deadlines are on the 2026-27 test calendar, and preparation options are on the SAT page.

How EDUBUS helps

EDUBUS college planning runs year by year from grade 9: a four-year course plan built around the rules of each Irvine high school, a testing decision and schedule matched to the student’s year of entry, a clear activities direction, and in grade 12 help weighing ED I, ED II, and RD, followed by a counselor review of the personal essay, short answer, and merit scholarship materials. Preparing the CSS Profile and FAFSA for financial aid is part of the service. To see where a student stands relative to schools like Vanderbilt, start with a free assessment.